Indonesian celebrity chef promotes New Zealand to families and foodies

Indonesian celebrity chef promotes New Zealand to families and foodies

02 May 2014

Indonesian celebrity chef and Auckland International Airport Ambassador, Farah Quinn, is back in the country promoting family-friendly travel options to her millions of social media followers.

Farah Quinn and her son at Skyline in Queenstown

Farah and her seven-year-old son are spending seven days in Queenstown and Auckland as part of a new promotion by Tourism New Zealand and Auckland International Airport.

Representatives of three Indonesian media outlets are also travelling with Farah and will each spend a different day with the star as she and her son participate in a range of tourism activities from jet boating and luging to experiencing the SkyTower and Waiheke Island.

Understandably, due to her status as a celebrity chef, Farah's itinerary is also filled with the best of New Zealand food and wine.

During her visit she will post images and stories on her multiple social media channels where she has 2.15 million followers on Facebook alone.

Tourism New Zealand's Director of Trade, PR and Major Events Justin Watson says Farah has already proven to be a successful ambassador during her previous trips to New Zealand with Auckland International Airport.

"The challenge we face in Indonesia is that New Zealand is not top of mind for travel and consumers have no strong reason to come here. With promotion from an influencer as popular as Farah Quinn, we are sending a clear message to potential travellers about New Zealand as a fun, popular and family friendly destination."

Tourism New Zealand began targeting the Indonesian market in 2013 following a significant increase in Government funding.

The increase enabled the organisation to implement its Emerging Markets strategy, targeting markets that hold significant potential for long-term growth, including India, Indonesia and Latin America, but where investment is needed ahead of the visitor curve.

Justin says, "The strong economies of these markets are leading to an emerging middle class and growth in personal spending power, resulting in outbound travel from these countries growing exponentially."

Charles Spillane, Auckland Airport's general manager corporate affairs and acting general manager aeronautical commercial, says, "With a population of approximately 240 million, Indonesia makes up around 45 per cent of the ASEAN economy and is quickly transforming into a global economic powerhouse. Indonesia certainly represents a major opportunity for the New Zealand tourism industry."

"This promotion is part of Auckland Airport's Faster Higher Stronger business strategy to grow emerging travel markets and is specifically focused on driving inbound tourism growth by stimulating Indonesian awareness of high end travel markets in New Zealand.

"We have already experienced good growth from the Indonesian market. If we look at the period of February 2013 to March 2014 we have seen over 13,900 Indonesian arrivals to New Zealand, an impressive 14.3 per cent increase from the same period the year before."

"Farah Quinn will enable us to better present what New Zealand has to offer by appealing to Indonesian's love of social media and their growing appetite for international travel. It is fantastic to be working with Tourism New Zealand on Farah Quinn's latest visit."